Strictly star is eyeing stardom on Blackpool stage

The 38-year-old criminal barrister said he had signed up for the show after being “mildly inspired” by former contestant Scott Mills’s Under The Sea red lobster dance.

She taught me how to cha cha. So I can do that one

Discussing his fellow contestants, Rinder said he had initially thought pop star Anastacia was “the surviving princess of Russia”, while the name Melvin Odoom “sounds like something from Lord of the Rings”.

The TV personality said he had a head start on the cha cha cha, having been taught to dance by his school nurse, Mrs Cornish.

“I didn’t really suit childhood terribly well so I’d go and sit in her room,” he said.

“She taught me how to cha cha. So I can do that one.”

He dismissed the idea that he would be happy to get as far as the Blackpool Tower Ballroom, saying: “People want you to pretend a little as if you don’t want to get as far in the programme as possible...what nonsense.”